


You were mine, once. Not anymore.

by rafamarkos5998



Category: DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood: Lost Days, Robin: Son of Batman (Comics)
Genre: (for completeness' sake), Alpha Bruce Wayne, Alpha Talia al Ghul, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Jason Todd, BAMF Talia al Ghul, Baby Damian Wayne, Because he needs it, F/M, Good Parent Talia al Ghul, Hurt Jason Todd, I also kept the whole Heretic bit in, I just wanted to use something like that, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Jason Todd Gets A Hug, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd and Damian Wayne Meet in the League of Assassins, Jason Todd is Damian Wayne's Parent, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Jason Todd, Protective Talia al Ghul, The Outlaws support Jason, Tower of Babel (DCU), because I wanted to try and deal with it, because what's writing without impossible challenges that threaten to alienate the audience?, or rather I wanted to use the contingency plans part, or rather Tower of Babel 2: Electric Boogaloo, playing fast and loose with canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:21:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26030323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rafamarkos5998/pseuds/rafamarkos5998
Summary: Damian gets to understand his real parentage, and Bruce realizes what kind of person his estranged pup is.AKA Bruce struggles with understanding Jason, like in every other fic. But this time, it's A/B/O! Just like every thirteenth fic.
Relationships: Artemis of Bana-Mighdall & Bizarro (DCU) & Jason Todd, Batfamily Members & Damian Wayne, Batfamily Members & Jason Todd, Batfamily Members & Talia al Ghul, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Jason Todd & Original Male Character(s), Justice League & Jason Todd, Past Talia al Ghul/Bruce Wayne - Relationship, Ra's al Ghul & Bruce Wayne, Ra's al Ghul & Damian Wayne, Ra's al Ghul & Jason Todd, Ra's al Ghul & Talia al Ghul, Roy Harper & Koriand'r & Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul & Bruce Wayne, Talia al Ghul & Damian Wayne, Talia al Ghul & Original Male Character(s), Talia al Ghul/Jason Todd
Comments: 9
Kudos: 299





	You were mine, once. Not anymore.

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [He's My Son Too, Bruce](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18407972) by [HellionOfTheOutlaws22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellionOfTheOutlaws22/pseuds/HellionOfTheOutlaws22). 



> I had this idea floating around my head for a while, and I had to pen it down to make sure it doesn't bleed into my other stuff. It's bound to make even less sense than everything else I've written, but I hope it's still good enough for a read.
> 
> The idea of Jason and Talia having another son came from the fic [He's My Son Too, Bruce](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18407972/) by [HellionOfTheOutlaws22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellionOfTheOutlaws22/pseuds/HellionOfTheOutlaws22). I essentially worked off of that and Jason being a closeted omega.

"-Jason, you know that _we do not kill_ , and yet you-"

Jason tuned out Bruce's yelling as he tried to focus on keeping his cool inside the Batcave. It wasn't entirely ideal for an omega to be stuck in hostile territory. Especially if they were an unclaimed one, like him. He'd kept that side of himself secret for a while now. It wasn't that he didn't trust Bruce's ability to keep it in his pants - Bruce was shitty, but not _that_ shitty - but rather that he didn't trust Bruce to not treat him as an even lesser person thanks to his designation. He wasn't sure if Bruce was that kind of guy, and if the rest of the Bats would fall in line, but better safe than sorry, right?

"Todd. You are a disgrace to our clan."

Well that came out of nowhere. Damian, his ~~pup~~ _work colleague_ was on the bandwagon now.

"I live to serve."

"Trust me, we do not require the service of inferior beings like you."

He knew that Damian didn't mean to hurt him, but he had. It was a special kind of torture, to first watch your bond with your own pup fade into nothing and then to have it replaced by disdain. On some particularly bad days, he _almost_ wished Bruce got a chance to feel it. Those days were often filled with bouts of open weeping away from all eyes and ears.

"Jason, I can't have you going rogue in my city."

"For fuck's sake, Bruce, you live outside Gotham. You barely know the place. Your fucking voter card calls you a resident of the county of Bristol. Not that you've ever deigned to vote, because why would Bruce fucking Wayne need to actually take part in the democratic process to get the leaders he wants."

"Jason-"

"Don't worry, I get your point. Obey your rules, or you'll beat me up again. I get it. Next time, I'll try to not let a bunch of child traffickers bleed out on the streets because they are definitely the people who need saving. Oh, a child trafficker is dead, the horror, what shall we ever do. How can we ever recover as a species from such a gruesome tragedy. I'm strangely not sad about this outcome, but oh, the horror, look how sad it is to lose these people who were a blight on humanity."

Bruce seemed to be trying to retort with some sort of statement about needing to be merciful, but Jason beat him to it.

"And don't give me bullshit about 'needing to be merciful'. You're the asshole who beat me up for shooting Penguin with a blank because your fucking ego was bruised. I don't have the time or energy to get pissed at you and your oversensitive controlling knot, so I'm going to clear out of here before you say something that disgraces all alphas even more."

Jason walked off to his bike, but couldn't resist another parting shot.

"I hope you never have to actually raise a kid, Bruce. Because even if they were the worst possible person ever, they would _still_ deserve better than you."

 _Argument won. Jason 1, Bruce 0. Go, team Red Hood._ Jason's self-congratulatory thoughts kept him in a good mood until he got to his safehouse, upon entering which he realized that the heating was broken and that he needed to either find some way of staying warm through the night or go to another safehouse.

He decided to go somewhere else. He didn't want to sleep in a cold bed again. He was done with that.

\----------------------------------------

As Jason sat to the side watching the fabled Justice League bicker over non-issues, he wondered if this was how he was paying for his crimes. Being tortured via boredom for not listening to Bruce sounded like just the thing the universe would do to him. If his life experiences were anything to go by, the universe was mean and petty like that.

They were talking about somebody having hacked some files of some sort, it seemed. Except that they had no idea what the files were? That doesn't make sense.

Scratch that, Batman _did_ have an idea, but he didn't want to tell. Wow, Batman hiding something from the Justice League. The old buffoon hadn't really learned from his mistakes, had he?

He supposed that he never had. Well, hopefully, this particular wouldn't come back to bite them in the ass.

Speaking of biting, where _was_ ~~his pup~~ Damian? He should check up on the kid. Yeah, they didn't really have a bond any more, but he still cared for him more than anything els- _don't go there, Jason, it's not going to go well_.

Well, it couldn't hurt to make sure the kid was safe, could it?

Before he could ponder over the merits and drawbacks of trying to ~~reconnect with his pup~~ make sure Robin was fine, all the windows in the whole room shattered at once, and a bunch of people wearing black came crashing in. Hell, they even got the skylight.

 _The League_ , Jason thought, as he tried to take cover in a room that was practically empty. The table looked like the best option so far, and he ducked under it, only to have Superman pick it up and throw it at the largest group of assassins headed their way. _Great, now I'm out in the open, with no cover. This is how the universe screws you, Jason Peter Todd._

As he looked around, he noticed that a bunch of the people in the room seem as irritated at Superman's subpar choices as he was. _Good_ , he thought. _Let the bastard feel the hate flowing through all the normal people's veins._

Superman could feel their hate, right? Well, at this point it was probably just disappointment, they were all used to the guy not registering some of the subtler consequences of people around him being... human.

He wondered what this was for when the main doors to the conference room opened and Ra's al Ghul stepped in, clouding the air with his overblown sense of self. The knothead either did not know how to have some sense of decency or had stopped caring. Either way, there was the neon sign of a guy who's lived too long for his own good.

Jason pushed the rage bubbling up inside him to the back of his mind. _There will be time for that later. For now, keep your cool._

For now, he settled for a casual look, trying to cover up the distress in his scent to make Ra's believe he was completely calm here. Which, in a sense, he was.

This time, he was thinking straight enough to make sure that Ra's actually paid for what he did.

"Good afternoon, Detective." Wait, was it still afternoon? Time slowed to a crawl when all you felt was boredom. "We have important business to talk about."

"Before you ask, I'm not letting you have Damian." Bruce growled. Jason almost laughed out loud at the pathetic attempt to sound like a challenger. He knew Bruce's stance on defending his pups now. The scar on his neck was evidence enough of what Bruce would do to save his own.

And even if Bruce _wanted_ to defend Damian - his _blood son_ , his mind supplied - this was _Ra's al Ghul_. He wouldn't have been able to do much here.

"Do not worry, Detective. I will not require the child who was once my heir." Damn, that would hurt Damian. He always sought approval from the people with authority in his life. He would never admit it, but his desire for it remained as apparent as a parched man's desire for water. "I merely wish to know where my daughter is."

Oh. That's what this was all about.

Well, it seemed like they had a chance this time.

He sent the alert and decided to play for time. It would be a bit uncomfortable, and he would end up giving up important secrets he had kept for so long, but it was necessary. He couldn't let ~~his alpha~~ Bruce and ~~his pup~~ Damian get hurt.

That said, he would only enter the conversation when Bruce lost whatever ground he is holding onto. Not only did it spare him from having to talk to Ra's for a while, but it also allowed him to watch Bruce flounder for a bit. He wasn't going to complain about that.

"I don't know where Talia is." Okay, so Bruce was going to play the stubborn angle here. He might last for a few minutes.

"While that might be true, I also know that you can find out. So please, do that for me. I assure you, that's all I want." Wow, Ra's was really laying it on, wasn't he?

"I will not negotiate-"

"-with terrorists, I know. Unfortunately, most of you are caught in an unfortunate position here, and isn't my request is mundane enough for you to acquiesce this one time? After all, you want to find her and hurt her for hurting your precious boy, do you not?"

Okay, so Ra's knew what his plan was. Jason couldn't just wait around.

"If not, I guess I have to adopt... a more _persuasive_ method of conversation."

Yep, it was definitely time to get a word in before _that_ happened.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have you stop you from doing that." He tried to make himself sound as unbothered as possible. He _had_ to get this right.

Ra's looked to him with a twitch of his eyebrow that somehow said both _Really?_ and _Took you long enough, you coy little shit_ at the same time. Alfred would have been proud if Ra's had been a better human being.

He felt Ra's scent wash over him, in an attempt to make him lose his head and bow in supplication. _Fuck you, you creepy old bastard. That shit didn't work on me before, and it definitely won't work on me now._

"And why would you do that?"

"Can't let you hurt my people."

"As far as I can see, they are not _your people_." The disdain was clear, as was the intent. "In fact, you don't have any people."

And because Ra's al Ghul was the worst kind of bastard, he adds, "Maybe when I'm done here, I can work on changing that. You will make a fine concubine."

Wow, the creep wasn't even trying to keep himself in check, was he?

"I think you're supposed to say that _after_ mating the victim."

"I am the Demon's Head. Having the honour of taking my knot is more than you deserve."

"First, you need to take me out for dinner before springing that on me. I'd prefer Thai, but I'm not particularly picky, I'll have you know." He could work with this, he'd been doing this before he'd even met Bruce. "Second, I thought you'd use your brain and try something else. You had a go at that angle with a heat potion, a torture chamber and a pile of sex toys of all vintages on your side, and it still didn't work out for you. What makes you think it will work this time?"

"The fact that I'm threatening your mate."

"As you so astutely pointed out, I don't have a mate."

"You don't have a bond with the Detective and his pup here, and yet you stepped in to protect them."

"I don't need to have a bond with them to do that." He saw Bruce inhale sharply at that.

"Is it overambitious of me to presume that you would agree to come with me to save them?" Ra's clearly thought he had this, and he would pay for his overconfidence. Jason would ensure that.

"Yes, because you're presuming that is the only option I have."

"And what else could you do?"

"Fight you, for starters. I've killed you once already, I can do it again."

"And I will return yet again. Like last time."

"I'll use some more permanent methods this time."

"And where, pray, did you acquire knowledge of these permanent methods of killing me?"

"Always knew them. Last time, we were both pissed. Now, we have the advantage of being calmer."

And before Ra's could come in with the obvious rejoinder, Jason ended that line of discussion.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking that I'm somehow less angry than I was before. I still want you dead, and this time, I'll have what I want."

"Aren't you an arrogant little slut."

"So says the man who owns a mansion of 'concubines' and has... that... for fashion sense." Jason smirked as he pointed towards Ra's getup. 

"One's appearance hardly matters when in bed."

"It _does_ matter when you're trying to get someone _into_ your bed, though. Yeah, beauty is only skin deep, but it's still the first thing you see." The alarm embedded in his wrist sent a small shock. Two minutes. One hundred and twenty seconds. He could do this.

"I did not presume you would be fooled by appearances."

"Let's face it, if I wasn't visually appealing to you, you wouldn't have bothered to look."

"You are a fine specimen of your kind. I am only stating the obvious."

"And you also want a sample of the goods, don't you? I can feel it, you know."

Most of the hero community were composed of alphas and betas, so they probably didn't smell the stench of arousal emanating from Ra's. Their scent glands were more attuned to omegas.

Speaking of which, they now knew he was an omega. He wondered how far he needed to run once this fiasco was over.

He shifted his stance, trying to go for the pose that the working omegas on the streets of Crime Alley used to attract clients. Legs slightly apart, hips subtly pointed away from the body to make sure that potential customers could see a hint of what they were buying. He pulled off his scent-blocking patches and let his scent spread through the room, hoping it would work on Ra's. Hopefully, his hindbrain would end up taking over and stop him from thinking this through.

Ninety seconds. Completely under control.

"Given your obsession with breeding, I wouldn't have taken you for the kind of alpha who would consort with a lowly omega from the streets of Gotham. 'The sewer of the world', isn't that what you called it? Normally people with your disposition towards the lower classes shun us normal folks like the plague." Yeah, that was a good way to stretch the conversation. Ra's wouldn't hesitate to expound on his ideas about the subject, would he?

"And I've lived long enough to know that genetics is a roll of the dice. As Charles II showed us, the best sires can give birth to the worst possible offspring, and you yourself are living proof that the most despicable ancestry can lead to quite extraordinary results."

Normally, Jason would have bristled at the insinuation, but he managed to control himself. He couldn't afford to piss Ra's off, he needed him and his associates to focus on him. He knew that Ra's always kept an entourage of male alphas as a result of his regressive views on gender norms, and there was a good chance he could try and distract them with his scent as well. It also helped that Ra's was, to some extent, correct - Catherine wasn't his birth mother, and Sheila and Willis were definitely 'despicable'.

"You know, I'd prefer to have my partners in bed not be older than my grandfather. That's a definite turn off. Your squad of alphas here seems like a much more attractive proposition than you."

Yep, that did the trick. The fuckers were like nearly all other alphas out there, thinking with their knots instead of their brains. He was pretty sure that whatever force Talia was bringing would be able to get all of their assailants, but it didn't hurt to have them distracted as well. Maybe it would also let the heroes do something useful and lower casualties.

"You don't need to worry, I have more experience than the rest of the people in this room _put together_. I'm good with groups, or so I've been told. There's a good chance I can include you in that count, Ra's. Your scent reeks of repressed desires."

"When one is the Demon's Head, one does have to sacrifice some things. Nevertheless, I assure you, I have enough skill to satisfy you greatly. And if you shall require more, I can even let you have the people you requested."

Off to the side, he could feel Bruce's scent sour with anger. Well, he could go fuck himself. He knew who he was taking in way back in the day, Jason had made that pretty clear. Bruce didn't have the right to be pissed now.

But it didn't feel like he was angry at _Jason_. Weird.

No time for that now. He had a squad of alphas to keep in check.

Thirty seconds. He had this.

He stepped forward, slowly striding towards Ra's, carefully ensuring that his scent broadcasted the general idea of _horny-desirable-available_ to all the alphas in the room. From what he could see, they were all responding.

Some of the heroes were doing that too. That was slightly unfortunate, but hey, that was on them. Thankfully, none of the functional ones seemed to be eager to go on the aggressive. That was nice, they needed to hold onto the element of surprise for Talia.

Thankfully, she'd managed to come around before he'd been forced to strip and deliver on all the promises. He wasn't really keen on Ra's al Ghul, of all people, given that all the man inspired in him was a blinding rage that almost made him _want_ to give into the Pit and have a go at the asshole. He'd done it before, and it had been cathartic, despite being useless in the long term for both safety and revenge purposes.

He just needed to drag this out a bit more, and hopefully distract them even further. The more the merrier, right?

Once he was standing less than a foot away from Ra's, he drew on all the lessons he had learned on the streets and struck the best pose he could while putting a finger on Ra's' chest. As he slowly pulled it downward towards the old man's crotch, he could sense his arousal rise, along with that of the alphas in the room.

Seriously, the heroes needed to invest in better training for their instincts. If all it took to drive them over the edge was a dose of omega pheromones, then they were woefully unprepared for their jobs.

At least Bruce looked sane. Or did he?

Scratch that, the guy looked furious. He seemed to be on his way out of his hold and on the road to strangling Ra's, but a nudge from ~~his pup~~ Damian stopped him.

Evidently there was one hero in the room who was thinking clearly.

Damian's expression was somewhat inscrutable. He had the look on his face that Bruce used to have at times during Jason's Robin days, the look that said _we're going to talk about this later_ and never meant anything good.

Well, he supposed they could just talk about it later. It didn't seem like a bad option.

As his right hand went down into Ra's' pants, he noticed Talia hovering near the skylight. She raised her hands, and he dimly saw three fingers. His muscles tensed, and he forced himself to relax. He couldn't blow this now.

 _Three_. His fingers curled around Ra's' knot.

 _Two_. He gave an experimental tug, and nearly everyone in the room jumped.

 _One_. His left hand curled in on the handle of his kris.

 _Go_. He pulled Ra's in, held him close and pushed the dagger into him.

\----------------------------------------

When Talia got the alert from Jason warning her that he was in danger, she was in a convenience store in Queens, browsing the aisles and picking the necessities. Normally, such a task would be left to her servants, but she wanted to personally supervise this expedition because she also needed to pick up supplies for Jason's impending heat. It was still a couple of weeks away, but calculations with suppressants and Lazarus Pits were never likely to be very accurate, so it was better to be prepared. Jason had even delegated all of his Crime Alley duties to his lieutenants, making sure that he was free when his heat hit.

They rarely spent his heats together, but they did attempt to be around each other as much as they could given the constraints of their situation. However, considering that one of those constraints was Ra's al Ghul and another was the Batman, they didn't have much room to work with. But this time, they would get through Jason's heat, and then finally put Ra's al Ghul to rest. Neither Jason nor Talia wanted a random stress heat or the ensuing corresponding rut to distract them from their need to actually make sure that Ra's stayed dead.

After all, all the rage they vented out on Ra's last time didn't actually help in _keeping_ him dead. Sure, it was cathartic and did get rid of much of his influence, but he was still _there_. And that made processing their loss... difficult.

Talia signalled to her aide and handed over her shopping list. The items she needed to choose herself had been added to the shopping cart, and her people could handle the rest. She strode purposefully towards the parking lot, and her bodyguards moved to a roughly defensive formation intended for covert operations. Being combat-trained spared her from having to rely on a barrage of personal security invading her personal space.

As she entered the modified Range Rover, she recalled Jason complimenting her on keeping her means of transportation as unostentatious as possible for someone in her position. Given that she did not have a negligible public footprint, he was appreciative of how far she went to keep her private life _private_. It was a direct contrast to Bruce, who leaned into the flashy persona people expected from a rich trust fund baby. Sometimes, he leaned into said persona so much that it seemed that he had started believing in it.

Despite the modest exterior, the car was equipped to let her manage her operations on the move. Crucially, it also held a few spare sets of armor, and she pulled hers out and started to put it on as her senior strategist gave the latest intel they had acquired and proposed possible battle plans.

On some days, she was amazed by the frank, unassuming but still respectful demeanour of her people. They had come to her from the League, where respect was valued above everything else. However, Talia had no use for pride now, with a father to kill and a family to secure. Discretion and honesty had become the primary values, in that order. Blind loyalty held no value any more.

She wondered if this was part of Jason's influence on her. After all, that was how he had formed his organization, and that was why it endured even when he left the helm for long periods of time. By this point, it could essentially hold its ground on its own forever, without his input. Superb management skills, for a man who had never really completed formal education in a school.

As her aide showed her footage around the New York headquarters of the JLA going dark a few minutes after all the people they had invited had entered, she felt a cold tingle of anticipation crawl up her spine. Her instincts told her that this was no ordinary attack by the normal enemies of the hero community - this was done with a level of core competency unparalleled by anyone in the world, but also carried the stench of what Jason called 'a rush job'. Right now, that only pointed to one major villain.

And as the tablet in front of her lit up with footage of Jason and Damian with some shadows in the background, she knew.

Ra's was here.

Talia buckled her sword onto her hip. This time, they would make sure that Ra's stayed dead.

Her team neared the building in question, and once they left their cars, her eyes started scanning the building for vulnerabilities. They would need the element of surprise, Ra's would not be an easy opponent.

And that was when Jason's scent hit her.

Most people believed that pheromones were a primitive method of broadcasting simple, animalistic instincts and thoughts. That all it could do was convey the set of ideas that were important to the primal side of humanity, that were necessary for survival.

Those people had either never actually been in anything approaching a normal relationship, or had no conception of the idea of languages apart from the one bastardized version of English they were used to speaking. The truth was, pheromone-based communication was capable of nuanced thought in the same way as any other language. Saying that it was impossible to communicate complex ideas and shades of subtlety with pheromones was akin to saying that sign languages was deficient in comparison to 'normal' spoken languages in terms of communicating ideas - which was, to some extent, the _opposite_ of the truth.

Because while Jason's scent seemed to merely be a scream of _wet cunt available here_ , Talia knew him enough to be able to tell that there was an entire story going on below the surface there.

He wasn't merely seeking _any_ available alpha - he was broadcasting his need for _his_ alpha. His wasn't showcasing his desire for a knot, he was communicating his need for _love_. And beneath all the layers everyone else was ignoring, she smelled the rest. His _fear_ \- of losing his pup again. His _anger_ \- at Ra's al Ghul, for daring to hurt his family. And the nearly invisible note of _reassurance_ \- that was meant just for Talia, showing that he had this under control.

An entire message, delivered through a whiff of air.

They knew what to do now.

Talia signalled to her tech lead, who pulled out a set of portable comm lines for everyone. They were extraordinarily small, and once everyone had worn them, the voice of their creator rang through their ears.

"Mic test. Can you hear me?"

Everyone took turns to respond in the affirmative - it was preposterous to expect anything else - with Talia going last.

"Reception is clear. Performing microphone check. Arsenal, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Talia. Also, would it kill you to be a bit more casual?"

Talia hoped the silence conveyed the raised eyebrow appropriately.

"I guess it would. So, what's the plan?"

"You will come with us and provide ranged support. The rest of the Outlaws will run interference when Hood and I return. Starfire is to remain closest if we need emergency backup, but Artemis and Bizzaro will stick to their posts. Win or lose, we cannot afford to lose your backup on the way back."

"Understood." Koriand'r replied.

"I understand." Artemis added, grimly.

"Bizzaro understand Green Her."

"Good. We shall enter the complex in five minutes. From the roof."

"Wouldn't Ra's' men be there on the roof?" Roy Harper asked, his concern for his friend showing clearly.

"Jason has taken care of that." Talia's voice broadcasted the pride welling up inside her at her omega's quick thinking.

"Okay... I guess we'll go with that then." Roy's scepticism was clear, and Talia was looking forward to proving him wrong very soon.

"We enter in two minutes. Everyone, get in position."

Wordlessly, everyone moved to get into the formation they had decided on while arriving on site. Talia joined Oliver Queen's estranged son on the roof and took point herself. She wanted to be at the front lines while Ra's got skewered by Jason. It would be beautiful and satisfying to watch.

She caught Jason's eye as he stood next to her father. She raised her fingers, to let him know when to attack.

 _Three_. She lowered herself closer to the floor, ready to jump in.

 _Two_. She decided on a grunt to land on, to cushion her landing. Conveniently, it happened to be the one near Damian.

 _One_. Her right hand curled onto the hilt of her sword. The one she would plunge into Ra's' heart, when the time came.

 _Go_. She jumped down, conveniently ignored by all of the guards of the Demon's Head. Jason had completely entranced them.

\----------------------------------------

It had been ridiculously easy for Mother to take down the entire squad of assailants. They were ridiculously few in number, especially for the Demon's Head, but that was probably because Grandfather had expected to use subtlety to get in at the right time and use the Batman's contingency plans to get what he wanted - although exactly _what_ he wanted was still a mystery.

Now that he thought about it, Mother seemed to be accompanied by some of the top assassins of the League, people who had once sworn undying loyalty to Grandfather. Had there been a schism of some sort?

That would explain why Grandfather looked so woefully unprepared.

The uniforms Talia's men wore seemed to be similar to the ones her forces had worn during the incident with the Heretic. What was she planning?

Also, why was Roy Harper assisting her? Had she obtained some way of blackmailing him or some of the other Outlaws?

And most importantly, why was she kissing Todd?

Speaking of Todd, he was apparently an omega. How he had managed to hide that, Damian did not know. It should have been impossible, given that they were a family of detectives, but evidently they had all failed to divine this fundamental fact. Considering the look on Father's face, he was probably displeased by the whole situation.

Mother took Todd to a chair and began to closely examine him - she was probably checking for injuries. How she accepted the idea of letting her omega go free into hostile territory so carelessly, Damian did not know. He knew Mother did not believe in chaining up omegas to domestic roles, but surely this was too dangerous?

After all, his experience in Gotham had shown him that most omegas were fragile creatures that needed to be kept safe from harm. And while his Umm'i had been a strong omega who fiercely defended his rights, he was more of an exception than the rule. Given that he had also been traumatized by whatever he had suffered before coming into Mother's care, it was unlikely that he represented what omegas were supposed to be like.

Although given that Todd was a capable soldier for their cause, he supposed that the same applied to him.

Wait. Why had Mother gotten a new omega? What happened to Umm'i?

They were discussing something, and it seemed to be about Grandfather. Considering the look on Father's face, he did not approve of that either. Neither did Grandfather, who was lying on the side, tied up and gagged. It was demeaning, for an al Ghul to be disgraced like that.

"I will not let you take him. He will be tried, and punished, by us."

"Bullshit, Bruce. You won't do jack shit. I know you won't sentence him to death, because you guys are a bunch of hypocritical prideful asshats with sticks up your asses. You know as well as I do that he could break out of any prison you put him in that's not the Phantom Zone, and the Phantom Zone has a reputation for being pretty porous these days. Seriously, why you even put people in there is beyond me. Amanda Waller runs better prisons than that."

Evidently Todd did not want to let Father have any say in the matter.

Father's eyebrow was twitching at an incredibly high frequency. That was not a good sign.

"And that's why we're supposed to just hand him over to you?"

Mother decided to join in. "In case you needed more motivation, Bruce, my men still have the tools used to subdue you in the first place. And they cannot be distracted by something as simple as the smell of an omega trying to seduce an alpha."

That was certainly true. Damian wondered how they had gotten so distracted as to fall into such an obvious trap.

"So we are supposed to just let you two leave, knowing that you plan to murder a man?" Clearly Father would not let Todd leave without a fight of _some_ sort.

For a second, it looked like the situation would devolve into one of the usual arguments between Father and Todd. However, Todd simply shook his head, signed unintelligibly to the squad Talia had brought, and moved to pick up Grandfather.

Mother, however, would never let Father have the last word on anything.

"He took our pup from us. For that, he shall pay. We will enact our vengeance so that he cannot simply shake it off. And you will _not_ take this from us. You already have one of our children, at least have the humility to be satisfied with that."

Father did not look like he would acquiesce to Mother's request.

Wait. _Our_ pups?

Father had caught onto that part too. "Your pup?"

Todd laughed, and it was short and bitter and sad. It sounded less like him, and more like Umm'i. "Who do you think gave birth to Damian? Who do you think raised him and nursed him?"

 ~~Todd~~ _Umm'i_ moved to the area below the skylight carrying Grandfather on his shoulder in a fireman's carry. He turned to look at his ~~colleague~~ _pup_ , and his face was filled with longing and sadness. Damian did not like it.

"Are you... Mother's omega?" Damian couldn't help but sound weak and needy. It would have been unacceptable in the League, he hoped Father would be more accommodating of his weaknesses.

"On paper, no. We're not bonded yet. Practically, yes. After all, we share a bond."

Todd's eyes clouded over, and Damian was instantly reminded of what Umm'i used to look like after a bad nightmare.

"Had we... met before?"

Todd's lower lip quivers. "You were mine, once."

"Umm'i?" Damian hated the tremble in his voice, he wanted to squash it and throw it away.

"Not anymore."

 ~~Todd~~ Ummi looked to Mother, who had a somewhat similar mournful expression on her face. Then both of them looked to their pup, and Damian recalled the rare nights when the three of them would be together. Memories that he would treasure forever.

Then they both grappled to the roof, and in a few minutes, they were gone.

\----------------------------------------

Bruce did not like surprises.

Surprises were almost always bad for plans. They threw everything you had counted on before into the trash and forced you to start over. They made you improvise, compelled you to come up with the equivalent of duct tape to make the best possible patch in the worst possible circumstances. The fact that they often involved literal duct tape made them worse.

And emotional surprises were worse because he invariably lacked the emotional equivalent of duct tape required to patch those at short notice. In fact, he had had enormous amounts of practice at botching those situations.

Still, it was imperative that he confronted Jason and Talia about what they had done. About what they were going to do. _And why they were going to do it_.

Ra's was a despicable man, but he had his uses. He was honourable, which was more than what could be said about most of the threats they dealt with. So why was Jason so angry at him?

And what on earth was he talking about, referring to himself as Damian's omega?

Bruce needed to figure this out. He needed answers, and he would get them.

Luckily for him, he had managed to track Arsenal and get himself to the meeting point for Talia and the Outlaws. But for some reason, when he got there, he could find no trace of Ra's. Not even the man's scent, which was ordinarily so thick that it clogged the air around him for hours.

"Come on up, Bruce. It's time we had this talk."

Clearly stealth wasn't an option. They would have to fight this out.

Bruce landed on the rooftop and quickly moved to pick out an explosive Batarang to split up the defensive formation that the Outlaws had formed around Jason and Talia. The central pair were holding onto each other, and Bruce thanked Lady Luck for letting him get both his targets at once.

And found his hopes dashed to pieces when Arsenal got him with an arrow to the knee. As he stumbled, he saw Queen's ex-protégé press a button on the side of his bow, and he felt a gel expanding around his legs and hardening swiftly, holding him in place.

To his surprise, they made no further move to attack him. Instead, they moved a bit further apart, letting him have a clear view of Jason and Talia.

Bruce needed to figure out where they had hidden Ra's. So he tried asking them. Jason would probably not give away any direct info, but he would surely drop some hints by virtue of his emotional nature, right? He was an omega, and an overly sentimental one at that, surely he could not stand up to the Batman?

(Bruce ignored the part of his mind that told him that his son had resisted any and all attempts to coerce him into doing something he disagreed with for years now. He couldn't afford to be pessimistic.)

"Where have you hidden Ra's?"

"Funny enough, we don't know yet. Our people are going to tell us once we are done talking to you." Jason was clearly lying, there was no way that was the case.

"You wouldn't trust your lowly servants with someone that important, not when you want to kill him that badly."

"Yeah, here's some news about organizational management for you - if you believe in your employees and attempt to support them, they will commit much more enthusiastically to your goals. Might help you in upping WE's bottom line, even if it hurts the elitist inside you. Trust me, I managed to run a drug empire that turned a profit despite lowering prices, giving everyone higher margins and cutting off half the clientele."

Although Bruce could not see the relevance of the tirade against WE, he did get the general point, and decided to abandon that line of questioning. That wasn't the important part anyway, what was important was figuring out the details of Damian's parentage.

"You said that you gave birth to Damian. But his DNA matches mine."

"I never said anything about being related by blood. Surrogacy is a thing, you might have heard of it. Considering that you're a rich white dude in a major American city. Besides, you know that _someone_ nurtured Damian when he was a kid, and you also know that alphas who get pregnant don't produce enough milk or pass enough nutrients in the gestation period to result in a completely healthy child, like the one Damian turned out to be."

"I knew he had an omega to feed him, but nothing else. Talia... didn't seem like the type to have longstanding relationships."

"First thing, Bruce, she's right here. And second, put your raging boner for your ego back in your pants. Just because she didn't maintain a relationship with you doesn't make her incapable of relationships. In fact, considering that it's _you_ , it's actually more proof that she's a normal functioning human being."

Bruce didn't have a response to that. No matter. He needed to get them to stop their mad crusade.

Even madmen had reasons for their actions. He supposed it was reasonable to ask for theirs.

"Why are you trying to kill Ra's?"

"He killed our pup." Jason's face and voice were ice cold.

"You had another child? When was this? How did I not know of this?"

"He was Damian's twin."

Bruce felt the blood in his veins freeze, while a wave of ferocious anger began to swell inside him at the same time. If it had been any other situation, he would have wondered how such a combination was possible. He could feel his own scent sour, and dimly noticed the grief in the scents of both Jason and Talia.

Jason, however, didn't seem to be done with the emotional pummeling. He kept going.

"We called him Thomas. We felt... it would be right. He was your kid, after all. He was born... pretty much alongside Damian. Less than half a minute apart, wasn't it, T?"

Talia nodded, a fond smile briefly flashing across her face. It felt soft and genuine in a way he hadn't seen before, in all the time he had spent with her.

"He was the cutest little pup you would ever see. Half of Damian's size when he was born, but a screamer all the same. We didn't get a lick of sleep for _weeks_."

Bruce didn't like where this was headed.

"We presented both the babies to Ra's. We had to." Jason was on the verge of tears, and Bruce wanted to hug him and tell him that it would be okay, but he couldn't. Not just because he was stuck in an immobilizing gel, but because _how can you tell someone to get over the death of their child_?

Especially when he'd never been able to do it himself?

"He had tests run on them. Damian was going to be an alpha, so Ra's earmarked him for becoming his heir." Jason's face twisted with a combination of grief and anger, and the air around them became positively stale. It would have been cloying, except that everyone present was feeling the same thing as Jason and Talia.

"Thomas was going to be an omega. Ra's had no use for omegas."

Jason broke down in open weeping, and Talia tucked him into her chest as he bawled his eyes out. She was crying herself, but silently. None of the Outlaws moved a muscle or said a word, and Bruce wondered what they were thinking.

His thoughts had faded into incoherent ramblings a while back.

"He took our kid from us... our kid." Jason cried out, in between bouts of hiccuping tears.

"I know, Beloved, I know. And he will pay for his actions. We will make sure of it." Bruce flinched at the steel in Talia's voice - or was it the resolve in her scent? He had no idea.

But Bruce couldn't just let Jason go with Talia.

After all, she had attacked Damian. She couldn't be trusted.

"Jason. Why are you with Talia? If Damian is your pup... she attacked him. Tried to get him killed. Why are you supporting her?"

The reaction was immediate. Talia's scent overflowed with shame and grief, and Jason... his was filled with... determination and anger. But... it was directed at him? Why?

Jason cupped Talia's head in his hand and spoke to her with the gentlest tone Bruce had ever heard coming out of his mouth. "No, T. I'm not going to let you rot in your guilt for that. I understand what you were doing, and even though I will never agree with your choices, I forgive you. I get it, and I forgive you."

 _But why?_ Bruce couldn't understand it. _Why are you forgiving her?_

Jason turned to him, his eyes green with rage. But his body language was strangely controlled.

"Do you remember what you did to try to bring Damian back to life?"

Bruce nodded stiffly, his demeanour tentative and unsure. He didn't know where this was going, and that made him uncomfortable.

"You hurt me, that day. You hurt me, in your efforts to get back the son you actually wanted."

Bruce wanted to argue against the idea of him not wanting Jason, but he couldn't really deny that he had been willing to throw away his pup's piece of mind for Damian's life. Jason's feelings had never been a priority at that time.

"Not that I blame you - I would have died for Damian. I would do it now if the need arose. Without a second thought. But you decided to take me there and make me relive one of the worst days of my life, and you didn't even give me a reason. You knew it would hurt me, and yet you did it."

Jason levels his coldest glare at him. Bruce wants to shrink into the earth to escape it.

"Can you blame her for doing the same?"

And yet again, Bruce found himself frozen, unable to think or act.

"I can't deny wanting to see Thomas again. At least I could see Damian every now and then, Talia couldn't even do that. Can you blame her for trying to get her son back? The one she had lost way too soon?"

No, Bruce couldn't. Not really. After all, he'd gone to the ends of the world to bring Damian back.

"When I saw him... smelled him, for the first time, I couldn't believe it. My sweet little pup was alive again,"

And because Jason was never one for mercy, he twisted the knife further.

"Why do you think I avoided fighting him as much as I could? I'm not like you, trying to hold onto my half-baked memories of a kid I barely got to know _at their expense_. And I'm not the type to try and choose between my kids either."

No, he was not going to go easy here.

"I don't agree with Talia's choices there. And yet... I don't regret having gotten to see my son once again, no matter how briefly."

He hugged Talia from the side, arms wrapping around her stomach and pulling her closer to himself.

"Honestly, I don't know why I'm telling you all this. You don't deserve to know any of this. You would probably still want to let Ra's live on. After all, when has the murder of your kids mattered to you? Once you're done extracting character development, you like them better when they are dead. I should know."

Before Bruce could reply to that accusation, Jason shook his head and signalled to Artemis. She nodded and stepped forward, axe in hand.

And before he could muster another coherent thought, a sharp pain sprung up in his head and the world faded to black.

\----------------------------------------

The Demon's Head lay at her feet, a blade piercing every limb.

Not just any blade, but one of the All-Blades.

Jason was burning away the magic of the pit.

Talia was not fond of the fact that the love of her life was _burning away his soul_ to help her get rid of the menace that had clouded their lives for so long, but there was nothing to be done about it.

She could see the light fading from her father's eyes, but she was long past feeling any sorrow for him. She had lost any affection she had left for him when he killed her pup.

Jason came into the room, shutting the door and leaving the two of them alone with the man who had caused them so much grief.

He handed a blade to her. It was the kris she had given him when he went on his first crusade in Gotham. It looked like it had been taken care of, maintained well to ensure that it did not lose its edge. The dagger was made of Damascus steel, and Talia recalled how Jason had been excited to learn how the League had managed to figure out the crafting process needed for the mysterious metal. She remembered the lessons she had given him on handling the weapon, hours spent training until it became a part of him.

He wanted her to have this.

Looking at Ra's, she saw that the green tinge in his eyes had faded. His pupils were dilated, and for the first time, she saw that his eyes were originally coloured grey.

The Pit was gone. It was time.

Without ceremony, she swung her arm in a wide, sweeping arc. The kris glanced against her father's throat, and for a second, he looked unharmed. Then a red line opened up across his neck, and the blood oozed out.

She looked on coldly as the Demon's Head choked on his own blood. It felt oddly fitting - a man who was obsessed with appearing like the most powerful alpha ever died helpless, alone and unmourned.

Once his body had collapsed lifelessly onto the floor, Jason pulled Talia into a kiss. It was short, but sweet. Fierce, yet loving.

They could finally be together now, as alpha and omega. Mates.

What they were meant to be.

Jason dragged her out of the cold cell into the upper reaches of the house. The League was theirs now, and the task of disposing of Ra's could be taken care of by the professionals in their employ. They could instead enjoy the comfortable bed Jason had in every safehouse he frequented - one of the few luxuries he had allowed himself to indulge in.

(Dimly, Talia wondered when she started to think of the people who had been her servants as 'employees'. She suspected that her association with Jason, a man who staunchly believed in the rights of the working class, had something to do with it.)

However, before they could get to the comfort of their bed, they heard the whine of a pup.

 _Their pup_.

They rushed to the sitting room in the front, disregarding all protocol that instructed everyone that all visitors coming into the house were to be screened before they were allowed to meet Talia or Jason. Thankfully, Koriand'r had gotten to their guest first, and had already started examining him to spare them the blushes.

Damian stared back at them, his eyes unusually misty.

Another whine fell out of his lips, and before any of them could think of how to respond, Jason had rushed over, enveloping him in a warm embrace and scenting him repeatedly. Their long-lost pup froze for a second, and then melted into the embrace, letting out heart-wrenching sobs.

Talia hesitated for just a few seconds before joining Jason. She hugged Damian from behind, smothering him in her scent when Jason relaxed his hold a bit.

After his sobs had trickled down into sniffles, Damian twitched. Both parents decided to let up a bit.

"I am not your pup anymore."

It is harsh, but true. Damian isn't theirs, hasn't been for years.

"But until... until they come for me, can I be yours? Just for a little while?"

Jason lets out a laugh that is also a sob, and it's impossible to determine whether he is sad, or angry, or distressed, or happy.

"Yes. God, yes."

And Talia decided that it was time for her to make a stand.

"We'll be here for you. As your parents. As long as you need us to be."

She looked at Jason's face, at Damian's and felt a bond fall into place.

She and Jason weren't mated, not yet. Their bond with their pup had faded, over the course of many painful years. But they were still together.

And she wouldn't let anyone separate them again.

**Author's Note:**

> The Talia/Jason pair works for me only if there's something else going on under the surface. With the parental relationship, its easy to write a bunch of other ideas in about parenthood and what it entails, comparing Bruce and Talia. With the A/B/O stuff, it's easy to write how these guys both embody and defy their gender stereotypes. I hope this is still worth reading.
> 
> I've used 'pup' and 'son' interchangeably here, with the former being used to indicate the instinctive side of relating to offspring and the latter indicating the more intellectual (for lack of a better word) version of a parental bond.


End file.
